By Bobo KhuraijamThe advent of super human or super hero in comic books, silver screen or television will always take us to a fantasy packed with hope and courage. The fight between the good and the evil, and the ultimate triumph of the good, who happens to be the savior; whether one, like it or not, this kind of fantasy is growing in good number. As you know, most of them were invented in the west. Some Asian countries have also followed suit. India is not lagging behind either. We are now able to see a new avatar of mythological characters being transformed into super heroes. All thanks to the new technology of animation art. Characters like Hanuman, Bhim, Ganesh and Krishna, which are worshipped by followers of Hindu religion, has now become favorite cartoon characters of the children. Have you ever heard Bhim the famous character from Mahabharata, travelling to foreign countries or taking part in a cost country marathon; ice skating for a race, fighting on a boxing ring? Mind you, this is Bhim during his childhood. We are not ready to buy the argument that this Bhim is not the character from the famous epic. It is not that we do not respect the creative license of those who have created it. Argument besides, we firmly support to the idea that the world is getting smaller and smaller. Super hero character no longer exists in the comic books or televisions. They are right here in our town, on the roads. They carry all the attributes of a super hero. Well, what are the common attributes of the super heroes? A probable list ought to be: Benevolence, courage, extreme sense of hatred against any form of injustice and above all showmanship. You can add more to the list. Do it at your own peril for you will not be paid for that.
THE SAVIOR: they are the species we find them on the road. Out of nowhere we would find them. They move mostly in a group, wears a common uniform. They have boots on their foot, both summer and winter, to warm their sense; their sense of security. A headgear would perpetually sit on their head. This is to testify to the fact that their heads are put into use, at least for a headgear. They are an epitome of courage. Always ready to face any eventualities. Their number depends on the degree of diffidence (importance) of the soul they guard. They move wherever the soul moves. They halt wherever the soul halt. Honestly devoted to the task of safeguarding the soul, without any sign of sycophancy, they would show their courage on the road. Whistle on their mouth, firearms on their hands they would greed you shouting on top of their voice: “don’t you see us coming, make way you GHADHAAS”. Their sense of urgency would compel us to conclude that the souls, who are otherwise known as VIPs, suffer from chronic diarrhea. Everyone in their lifetime face the pleasantries of loose motion. The unique experience of visiting the washroom again and again, the urge to clean out whatever remaining inside the canal, turning out into a futile exercise; futile because you have to return back to the toilet involuntarily. You can’t help it. You have to rush to the nearest commode whenever urge visits. The kind of speed our VIP convoy travel in an over crowded road directly implies the urgency of maning thong haangningba. Otherwise they would not move that fast. We are clueless of the genesis of the diarrhea our VIPs suffer. But we can well ascertain that they have no other means. Their only source of protection is the savior in uniform. They are popularly known as escorts or bodyguards. Their show of courage to the travelers on the road shows the degree of severity of VIP diarrhea. This may not be similar to the fantasized super hero act in the movies or comic. But the courage and determination is very much greater than the super heroes.
THE BENEVOLENT: ones, you need not look for them. They will in turn hunt you down if you happen to be standing by the side of the road. They are in abundance. Makes a hell of a noise with their bodies, travel in speed of the light, they can make a halt at a micro second: anywhere and anytime. They are known as diesel auto or tata magic. They are symbol of benevolence. They cannot bear to see the injustice meted out to the people who are deprived of any private vehicles: A godsend from the industry giants like the Bajaj and the Tatas. The drivers of these vehicles truly understand the adversity of the people who have limited means to travel from one place to another. They are ready to shower their scent of benevolence by zooming in anywhere at any time. Their only concern is the welfare of the passengers. They understand that there is no way out of the chaos created by the town planners. The planners may plan the city in their best possible way; the town will be in constant disarray. They have well digested the fact that planning lies only in the papers, lying somewhere inside the loo. So the only possible option is to take the avatar of super hero who would help out passengers from the urban mess. Super heroes will be born as long as there are forces of evil. They will be therefore born again and again in this place of earth. The only thing is that we would not be in a position to identify which part is fantasy or who are our real super heroes.
FOOTNOTE: a very important person who is guarded by too many super heroes was insulted by another super hero in an ugly road incident. Who will judge them? Leipung Ningthou calls it, “waayel ga wichaar gi marak ta chamanabana singchep thaaba”.
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